US aviation regulator FAA on Monday ordered inspections for hundreds of Boeing

aircraft over potential problems with wing de-icing systems, the main landing gear or the oxygen masks for use by passengers. The administration, however, gave airlines years to comply with each of the three directives, suggesting that they posed no immediate safety danger. Seattle Post Intelligencer (15/04), The Seattle Times (15/04)

Louis Gallois yesterday told a meeting of the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris

that EADS is suffering from the weakness of the dollar to the euro, describing this situation as a “sword of Damocles” over the company. He affirmed that, should the US currency remain so low, its subsidiary Airbus should change its development model. In the past six months alone, the dollar has lost 11 % of its value against the euro. “It is all about desensitising Airbus to the dollar”, said Mr Gallois. In this context, he explained, EADS is forced to look for ways to increase its natural hedging, either through acquisitions in the US and in the dollar area, by encouraging suppliers to set up dollar-based production, or by transferring some of EADS’s activities outside the euro zone. He added he intended to transform EADS North America into an “American citizen”.

US companies Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines yesterday struck a merger agreement,

after months of talks. The merger will create the world’s largest carrier, re-launch the aviation battle in the US and spur rivals to pursue similar deals. Sources close to the deal said Continental had started preliminary talks with United and American in turn is considering its options, including a rapprochement with US Airways. For its part, Air France-KLM, which had supported the Delta/ Northwest merger scenario from the start, will not invest in the new combined entity, as initially proposed. “Their cash resources did not require additional financing”, said the French-Dutch airline in a statement. La Tribune analyses how Air France-KLM, a partner to both Delta and Northwest within the SkyTeam alliance, will benefit from this merger. La Tribune, Financial Times

Airbus will take a decision over its planned plant sales within the next two to three weeks.

Borsen-Zeitung points out that this rumoured deadline is in compliance with earlier declarations by Airbus CEO Thomas Enders in a letter to his collaborators. Borsen-Zeitung

Since the beginning of the year, four Airbus workers have committed suicide.

They worked at different locations around Toulouse and had very different jobs: purchasing department, assembly line, etc. The trade unions remained cautious yesterday, saying it was “premature” to tell whether there was a link between the four suicides and working conditions at Airbus, all the more as none of the suicides were committed within the premises of the company. The group’s management, for its part, said “the personal history of these individuals show no evidence of any professional concern”. Le Monde

Airbus unveiled its previsions for the Spanish aviation market yesterday.

Over the next two decades, the group estimates that the Spanish airlines will need 415 aircraft, worth $ 45Bn (€ 28.5Bn), though the growth of the country’s tourism market could fuel further demand. Airbus forecasts that these orders will include 310 single-aisle aircraft, 80 widebodies and 25 larger models. Rafael Alonso, Airbus’s vice-president for Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, explained that Spanish airlines had a leading role among Western European carriers in air traffic to South American destinations. Airbus values its Spanish market share at 60 % and now aims to sell the A380 superjumbo to the national airlines, in particular Iberia,

Bangkok Airways has ordered two ATR 72-500 planes

in a deal valued at $ 37M. The two aircraft will be delivered between the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. Reuters (15/04)